A Rose and a hope
by ookami01
Summary: Tattooed and naked Odd finds her, but who is she because she knows the lyoko warriors and more importantly she knows XANA
1. Chapter 1

She only spoke one word "XANA"

It was morning at Kadic Junior High School and the five of Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita where having breakfast Odd of course wolfing down twos worth of food. "You have the stomach of a Billy goat" Ulrich said glancing at Odd from the side, Ulrich had learned a long time ago not to look directly at Odd while he ate or you would lose your appetite, Jeremy in a frustrated motion slammed the lid to his computer down, "what's wrong?" Aelita asked looking worrying at Jeremy "its been two months and XANA hasn't made himself known in any way, not an attack, not anything" Jeremy said rubbing his temples in frustration. "Well we don't know how the destruction of Lyoko affected XANA, he could have crippled himself and not even know it" Yumi said trying to encourage Jeremy "I doubt it" Jeremy replied.

It had been two months since the final showdown on Lyoko and much had changed. Lyoko was destroyed, but Franz Hopper who was supposed to have died suddenly sent the group instructions on how to enter the internet and fight XANA there. Jeremy had successfully logged the team onto the internet but calculating the sheer size of the internet there was no real way to find XANA unless he made the first move (which he hadn't). Jeremy found that William had not in fact died when XANA used him to destroy Lyoko, but there was no way to get him out or release him from XANA's control. The police came after awhile to investigate Williams disappearance but the kids where never suspected since they hadn't been really hanging out with him so no one looked too closely. But the biggest change of all was in the Kids themselves, they where looking more and more less like kids.

Grow was the best way to describe what happened Ulrich had shot up like a weed gaining three inches over Yumi who used to be the tallest in the group, and along with that his face showed more maturity and slightly longer hair. Odd was still stick skinny but had grown none the less shorter than Ulrich but taller than Jeremy, Odd had given up on trying to cut his hair it was growing too fast and he couldn't afford to have it cut that often, his hair now resides in a wild pony tail with streaks of purple running randomly through the blonde mess. Jeremy hadn't changed much, he had grown a lot too but he kept his hair the same, cloths the same, everything was "just Jeremy", he did however invest in a pair of half moon glasses giving him somewhat of a cool bad boy edge. The Girls had show the growth the most, the clumsiness of childhood had washed away both had grown curvy, slim, and well chesty to but it subtle or "smoking' hot" as Odd had so gracefully put it when it became noticeable.

But at that moment the pressures of teen hood where the last thing on any of there minds. Jeremy may have acted out but they all felt the same, XANA who was capable of any horrid atrocities had been too quiet since the destruction of Lyoko they all knew he would make a move soon, but when? And would they be as effective fighting XANA on the internet as they had been on Lyoko? SLURP, BURRRRP, Odd finished his third breakfast and wiped his mouth "I don't see why you guys are so worried, to go this long without the world in danger, or have to skip out of class to risk our necks to save a world that well nobody knows we're saving, me I'd call this a vacation" Odd said looking to help cheer up Jeremy instead he got four concerned looks from his friends. They all worried about Odd he had a falling out with Samantha Knight the only girl that dated Odd more than once before they got a taste of his "interesting" personality. "Will you all stop that, its getting on my nerves" Odd said angrily after seeing the group look a hundred times before. "Sorry" Ulrich mumbled "lets get going class is going to start" Ulrich said. They all spent the morning in class and met at the library before lunch to talk more about XANA, everyone but Odd that is. Odd snuck out to the Kadic Forest to play a little with Kiwi, "they act like I've never been dumped before" Odd said to himself throwing a stick for Kiwi. Suddenly Odd herd Kiwi's bark off behind some trees "Oh no I hope he's not hurt" Odd said, Odd ran to his dogs bark but stood frozen staring at what Kiwi was baking at, a pod like the ones off attack of the body snatchers.

"Whoa" Odd exclaimed looking over the pod, it was made of metal and has a clear glass window on one side Odd looked and tried to make out what was in side but suddenly the door popped open, white mist came rolling out. Odd jumped back frozen in his spot "what is this, what's going on?" these thoughts raced through Odds head, but the question reviled itself as the mist cleared. There standing before Odd was a girl no older than he naked with long cables plugged into her arms, back and hips, her hair was long and blonde her eyes closed, but the strangest thing was the tattoos that riddled themselves across her body. The Tattoos where like some odd form of Indian hieroglyphics black and streamed down her body a total of five of these sets of tattoos ran across her body a line of tattoos down each arm, leg, and a line down her back. Still frozen to that spot Odd tried to think but all that went through his head was how beautiful this girl was. She suddenly opened her eyes and locked gazes with Odd and he remembered that this could all be some sort of trap. Ready to run or attack Odd took a fighting stance trying to look fierce, "XANA" the girl spoke and with that the cables in her popped out leaving no marks and she passed out.

"So she said 'XANA' and passed out, never said anything else?" Jeremy asked Odd. It had been a long day after Odd came running out of the forest exclaiming that he found a naked unconscious girl. After Jim finally came to check it out things became complicated the girl was now in the nurses office sleeping, the cops came to question Odd the principal had made Odd tell the story over at least five times (Odd telling him everything except the XANA part). And now that things had finally slightly calmed down the group was in Jeremy's room listening to the story. "The word fishy would be an understatement for this" Yumi said looking over at Jeremy "I agree besides us and Franz Hopper no one should know about Lyoko or anything related" Jeremy said, Aelita gave a nod in agreement "What do you think of all this Ulrich you've been pretty quiet" Odd asked looking over at Ulrich who was resting his hands against his chin thinking about all that had happened. Ulrich caught himself doing this more and more, thinking things through before acting perhaps he felt that his decision to let William join the group and ultimately destroy Lyoko was his fault so he took time now before making a decision. Ulrich looked up from his thinking to see the team waiting for him to speak "we'll talk to the girl, tonight before the cops come to take her to some orphanage" Ulrich said standing up "Odd and Jeremy you two will be the ones to talk to her Jeremy will know what to ask and Odd she may recognize you and stay calm, Aelita you're going to stay here and work the computer to kill the security cameras around this place so we can sneak around unnoticed, Yumi you and I will stay out side the nurses office as look outs for Jim and back up if this is a trap and Jeremy and Odd need our help" Ulrich said. Everyone nodded at this idea but Yumi saw one glitch "what will we say if Jim does come by?" "Oh well…" Ulrich said blushing slightly.

"You two what are you doing out so late?!" Jim yelled as he spotted two figures outside after hours. As expected Jim showed up and Yumi and Ulrich where able to warn Jeremy and Odd to hide as he passes, Jim came running up to find Ulrich and Yumi standing near the Nurses office both blushing a furious red Yumi looking down and slightly behind Ulrich "Uh well sir" Ulrich started, but Jim looked down and saw that the two where holding hands fingers interlaced. "Oh I see well you two hurry up and finish your date before it gets too late, and Ulrich make sure **Miss. Ishiyama gets home safely" Jim said walking away "Close is clear" Yumi whispered inside to Odd and Jeremy. Ulrich and Yumi looked down and noticed that their hands still inter twined Yumi slightly blushed and tried to pull away but Ulrich gently tightened his grip and look at Yumi "I…I want to talk to you" Ulrich said turning red.**

**Inside the Nurses office Jeremy and Odd made their way to the last bed in the row to find their mystery girl, but she was up at the window looking out side the light from the moon was the only light in the dark room, she stood in a hospital gown. She turned and faced them staring at them with what Odd made out to be blue eyes "Uh hello" Jeremy said "My name is Jeremy, and this is my friend Odd, Do you remember Odd?" Jeremy asked. The Girl stared blankly at the two "this isn't a good sign, most of XANA's ghost's attack us but never speak" Jeremy whispered to Odd "Just wait" Odd said staring at the girl he couldn't get over how pretty she was. "Warriors" She said, Both Jeremy and Odd looked at her "of Lyoko" she finished. "How do you know about XANA or Lyoko?" Jeremy asked suspiciously "I...I" the girl stammered "don't stress her" Odd whispered to Jeremy he then stepped forward "hi uh do you have a name?" Odd asked the girl the Girl looked at Odd then at Jeremy and finally back to Odd "Rose" she said. "Ok Rose that's a great name" Odd said, Rose took a few steps forward until her and Odd's noses nearly touched Rose still staring blankly at Odd, but Odd got nervous such a beautiful girl stood so close to him he could hear his heart beating. "Odd get away this is dangerous" Jeremy warned his friend but whatever Jeremy expected to happen it didn't happen instead she kissed him. Rose Moved in used her nose to tilt Odd's head slightly upward and she kissed him. **

**That's when it got weird one of the series of Tattoos started to glow on her and Odd started to glow "ODD NO!" Jeremy yelled he lunged forward but an invisible force field blocked him from grabbing Odd away. "CODE RED CODE RED" Jeremy yelled into his cell phone, Yumi and Ulrich came running into the room receiving the emergency call and looked in shock at the bazaar sight of a glowing Odd kissing a Tattooed glowing girl. "Camm'on" Ulrich yelled "we have to get him out of there!" but at that moment the glowing stopped and Odd stepped away from Rose his friend catching him as he fell to the grown. "What did you do to him?!" Ulrich said angrily to Rose putting himself in a fighting stance "its O.K." Ulrich turned to see his friend getting to his feet, "what happened?" Ulrich asked but at that moment his cell phone range, it was Aelita. "Aelita this is a bad time" Ulrich said as he answered his phone "but Ulrich you have to hear this" Aelita said on the other end "the computer in Jeremy's room suddenly brought up Odd's Lyoko program and you wont believe this but his future sight, the program that we thought was gone for good is back, Ulrich Odd can once again see things before they happen". Ulrich turned and eyed Odd he looked perfectly normal and the girl looked the same, "thanks Aelita" Ulrich said putting away his cell phone, he was going to say something but never got the chance "you guys" Odd said "its Jim he's coming this way". Ulrich looked closely at Odd again and noticed, it was his eyes they turned from human to cat and it was obvious he could use his foresight powers outside of Lyoko as well. **

**The group plus Rose where now running though the grounds of Kadic trying to avoid getting caught by Jim. "Stop" Odd said "hide here" the five stopped and pressed themselves to a wall just as Jim came around another corner, had they continued running they would have been spotted "where did they go?" Jim said to himself scratching his head and walking off "the Factory" Rose said they all turned to Rose "you need to go fight XANA" she finished. Ulrich looked at his three friends with doubt in his eyes, this girl had done nothing to rest their suspicion and now she wanted to go the one place where she could really do some damage if she was in fact a puppet of XANA "its ok" Odd said "we can trust her" Ulrich still didn't trust the girl but he trusted Odd so he gave a nod and Jeremy dialed his Cell phone to contact Aelita and instruct her to get to the factory.****Ten minutes latter they where standing inside the room of the super computer "Ok we're here now what?" Jeremy said looking at Rose, Rose walked with no sound but quickly to the computer and typed in a command. "Hey wait!" Jeremy said horrified that she might break it but suddenly the sphere map of the internet that Jeremy had worked weeks to create suddenly appeared on the Holo pedestal she walked over to it and pointed to a spot. "Here, he hides here" Rose said, Jeremy sat in his chair and examined the coordinates on the super computers screen it was one of many remote spots on the internet that XANA could be hiding. "Well are we going?" Odd asked his eyes long since went back to normal "well it wouldn't hurt to go check it out its not like we have anything to lose" Jeremy said "what do you think Ulrich? Ulrich" Jeremy looked around but saw that both Ulrich and Yumi where gone "I think I saw them go down to the scanner room" Aelita said, "What could they possibly be talking about down there?" Jeremy asked, Aelita blushed he was still so clueless.**

**Down in the Scanner room Ulrich and Yumi stood holding hands staring at one another the conversation they had earlier still fresh in Yumi's mind. (Flashback) "Yumi, about three months ago you told me that you wanted us to stop beating around the bush with our feelings and just be friends" Ulrich said "that's right I don't want to keep on…" Yumi started but Ulrich cut her off "I want us to clear the air too I want you to know Yumi" Ulrich said staring into Yumi's eyes, she knew how hard it was for him to express his feelings "I've come too close to losing you so many times" Ulrich said, they both thought about how many times XANA's attacks had nearly ended one or the others life "and after what happed to William" Ulrich continued, Yumi looked down she too felt responsible for what happened. "The point is I never want to lose you, I fight this war against XANA for a selfish reason when we fight it's not the world's safety that I think about, it's yours Yumi" Ulrich said, and in her heart Yumi was thinking the same thing. "I want every moment with you to be special because we never know what will happen" Yumi looked up "Don't talk like that you sound as if one of us may…" Yumi started but Ulrich did the thing that he couldn't do for the past three years that he always wanted to do, he kissed her. "I love you Yumi and I want you to know it, I don't want something to happen and you never know how much you mean to me" Ulrich said. Yumi wrapped her arms around Ulrich and looked up into his eyes "I fight for the same reasons, I love you Ulrich, please don't disappear" she then kissed Ulrich and they held one another and held the kiss until Jeremy sounded the code red and they moved to help their friends.**

**Back in the present Jeremy activated the speaker system "Ulrich, Yumi your going in the internet to check out a possible XANA strong hold" Jeremy's voice said over the intercom "Ok" Ulrich said "Odd, Aelita, and Yumi can I'll stay here to keep an eye on….things" Ulrich said, Yumi knew Ulrich meant that he was going to watch the new girl and make sure she didn't attack Jeremy while they where off in the internet, but she still worried about him. Yumi took Ulrich in close and gave him a kiss "Be safe" she said "hey you stole my line" Ulrich replied. Odd, Aelita, and Yumi all got into the scanners while Ulrich watched Rose who didn't take her eyes off the holo map of the virtual world, Jeremy worked the keyboard of his computer like silk "scanner Odd, Aelita, Yumi, Virtualization" Jeremy said. **

**This virtualization was different they went to the internet this time the layout was a lot like Lyoko, a plane suspended over a virtual ocean this plane was a forest the only thing like Lyoko the three virtualized perfectly Aelita and Yumi virtualized and looked the same as they did in Lyoko but Odd came down different. Aelita and Yumi's jaw dropped when they saw him "Odd you ...your" Aelita stammered "what is it?" Jeremy asked "its Odd" Yumi said "he's". Odd wasn't a big handed cat kid, he had become more slip stream, his arms had become the same size and more muscular they where no longer skinny with huge paws at the end, his cloths in general looked more like armor than cloth the few features that remained where his tail the ever present color of purple and now he sported a pair of small cat ears on either side of the top of his head. "What is this?" Jeremy said astonished looking at Odds now changed Lyoko profile, "an upgrade" both Jeremy and Ulrich turned and looked over at Rose she didn't speak much but when she did it was concise and to the point, some how that kiss of hers gave Odd unbelievable powers. Back on the internet the three awaited orders, Jeremy's voice came to life in their heads "ok I'm materializing your vehicles you need to head for coordinates 3,0,8 bearing north" Jeremy told them as their Vehicles appeared they all hoped on Odd on his hover board, Yumi and Aelita both on a single Pod cruiser. As they came closer to the coordinates that Jeremy gave them his voice came to life again "be careful we have no idea what kind of powers XANA has on this plane of reality", but as he spoke those words XANA far away sensed the three intruders approaching him and he was not pleased with an angry roar he awoke his minions and set in motion a retaliation. **

**In the super computer room they all heard it the pulsation of a beating heart "it's him" Rose said, this was the first time Ulrich saw her scared. The pulsation grew stronger until…it came dripping down one of the air vents black and translucent once it was all there it floated up to its full height at least 8 to 9 feet tall and gave a bloody roar, XANA's possession ghost. It shot first at Jeremy trying to take control of his mind, no go Jeremy had long since grown immune, and the ghost knew Ulrich could easily defy his control so it set its sights on Rose "NO, RUN" he yelled at Rose but it was too late the ghost shot like a bullet at her, but at that moment another line of tattooed hieroglyphics came to life on Rose's body and when the ghost tried to enter her and possess her it came rushing out of her body roaring in pain. "Jeremy took this moment of confusion to contact his friends on Lyoko "report are you ok" he yelled into the microphone "Jeremy you wont believe this" Aelita said.**

**In the internet the three came speeding up to a clearing and in the center was a tower much like the ones back on Lyoko but this one had to be at least three times the size of a Lyoko tower, what's more it was guarded by XANA's ghost's they all circled the huge tower. "It looks like XANAs been a busy little virus since he left Lyoko" Yumi said, "here they come" Odd said pointing to the Ghost and sure enough it was like a black tidal wave coming right for them. "Split up I'll take care of these you two check out that tower" Odd said "are you sure?" Yumi asked him "trust me" Odd said with a devilish smile he winked at the two girls "on three" Odd said calculating the distance of the Ghost's" "one, two….THREE". the three split up at that moment and the wave of ghost's came smashing down on the spot that they had once been, Odd turned and laid down a stream of fire at the ghost "Laser arrows". Odd got the ghost's attention and they started chasing him as the two girls made their way to the tower. Odd was fast on his hover board but the Ghost had incredible speed and they where gaining on him, Odd took and sharp turn and then another trying to out maneuver them but it was no good, he turned to lay down another round of fire but suddenly a thought that never should have entered his head came up. "Hmm secondary weapon?" Odd said "well its worth a shot" he pointed his arm at the ghost mass almost upon him "SECONDARY WEAPON FIRE!!" Odd yelled, a bright red laser arrow came out and when it made contact with the ghost mass BOOM it exploded taking out a huge chunk of the ghost wave. Odd got another devilish smile on his face "I hope you guys like fireworks because here they come" he said "boom arrows fire!" Odd made quick work of what was left of the ghost and landed on the grown smoothly "well I better catch up with Yumi and Aelita" Odd said to himself, but before he could he hear a strange growl he turned to see two tarantulas monsters coming his way "please these guys will be easy I'll only need normal laser arrows to take them". Odd took aim and fired but nothing came out, he suddenly realized a serious problem the boom arrows may be powerful but the use of a few could use up all of his ammo! The tarantulas started firing at him and Odd took a shot to the shoulder and leg before he jumped back on his Hover board and took off "Jeremy I need you to reload my arrows" Odd said, no response "Jeremy are you there?"**

**In the real world Ulrich, Jeremy, and Rose where on the run the Ghost that XANA had sent was doing its best to kill them. The three made it up to the factory floor and where doing their best not to get killed as the XANA ghost took swings at them with a razor sharp claw. At the moment the three hid behind a conveyor belt as the ghost looked for them "I need to get back to the computer" Jeremy whispered to Ulrich "I'll distract it and you get back" Ulrich said. Rose herd this plan and went into action without the two boys even noticing, Ulrich and Jeremy looked up in shock as they saw Rose beating a pipe adgenst a box machine causing a lot of noise, this got the ghost attention and it started after Rose "go and help the others I'll take care of this" Ulrich said Jeremy sprinted to the elevator while Ulrich ran to Rose. **

**The Ghost swung its claw down at Rose and almost cut her into, but in the nick of time Ulrich tackled her pushing the both of them out of the way of the attack. The Ghost took no time to pause his attack and took another swing at Ulrich as the two ran this time making contact with Ulrich's side. Ulrich landed hurt and blood leaking from his cut, the ghost came down upon the two, it raised an sharp hand ready it cut the two to ribbons "this is it" Ulrich thought "I'm so sorry Yumi, I wont be able to keep my promise" Ulrich thought he could see her and wished he could have said good bye. But something happened that he didn't expect Rose was there with him and she kissed Ulrich, Ulrich's eyes bulged "WHAT IS SHE DOING?!?!" he though he tried to pull away but a green light engulfed him, another set of tattoos glowed on Rose's body, and the ghost let out a roar and swung down at the two. At the moment Ulrich looked up the light disappeared "TRIANGULATE" Ulrich moved at lightning speed and the ghost hit nothing but air it looked about confused as he saw three images of Ulrich running away carrying Rose in his arms.**

**On Lyoko Aelita and Yumi made it to the giant tower "Here goes nothing" Aelita said as the two stepped forward and into the tower. Inside was nothing like a Lyoko tower huge cables ran up and down blue binary coded walls, the inside was spacious, there was no drop off like the Lyoko towers and it didn't look like Aelita could just float to the top, there was a flight of stairs that ran upward encircling the tower but what caught Yumi and Aelita's attention the most was the suit of armor that sat in the middle of the tower. It was shaped like Knights of the Round Table armor, but there was a darkness about it the helmet had horns and there where spikes coated along the shoulders, back, legs, and back of the hands. Suddenly the eyes sparked to life and grew red, the symbol of XANA appeared on its chest and the thing came to life it stood up and unsheathed a huge double edged sword. "Go for the stairs Aelita" Yumi said "I'll take care of the tin man" she finished pulling out her two fans. Aelita didn't argue but ran towards the stairs. The knight saw this and charged at Aelita raised its sword but a spinning fan hit its head causing it to swing astray and missed Aelita. The Knight turned its attention to the thrower of the fan and as Yumi, "that's right come to me" Yumi said hoping that the knight would forget about Aelita, and it did. Letting out a war cry the Knight charger towards Yumi swinging its sword fiercely, but Yumi was agile and could flip and doge her way away from the sword. Yumi clicked her fans together and threw them but the knight threw up its sword and protected itself, the fans came back to their owner "this isn't going to be easy" Yumi thought.**

**Jeremy made it back to his seat and put on his microphone ear piece in time to hear Odd yell once again for his help, Jeremy almost pulled the piece from his head after hearing such a loud noise "Calm down Odd what the problem" Jeremy said. "My problem is that I need a reload of arrows and quickly" Odd said, he was flying as fast as he could avoiding the laser bolts the tarantulas shot at him "ok Odd give me a minute, and by the way in readings show that you have 70 life points" Jeremy said. Odd was shocked to hear this usually in the past after getting hit as many times as he had he would normally be down to 10 life points, was it the new armor? "Got it, I just gave you a fresh load of arrows" Jeremy said "it's about time Einstein" Odd said he turned to his targets "laser arrows". Inside the tower Yumi was doing her best but the Knight was both fast and strong, she knew one hit of the sword would kill her but whenever she tried to hit the XANA target on his chest the thing would shield itself. The knight swung its sword down and hit the ground close to Yumi right as she was flipping, the shock waves threw her off balance and she fell "oh no" she said the knight raised its sword but let out a roar of pain, Yumi heard what sounded like two bombs go off behind the knight she looked and saw Odd standing there. "Now finish it" Odd yelled, Yumi moved and in a flash the knight dropped its sword and two deep cuts where over the XANA mark, the thing literally went to pieces before breaking down into binary code. **

"**Thanks" Yumi said to Odd, "but what was that explosion?" "Well I'll have to show you, Aelita and Ulrich what new amazing powers I now have" Odd said smiling big "I see one of those powers is a big head" Yumi said giving a Odd a virtual rug burn, "lets go we need to catch up with Aelita" Yumi said. The two reached the top of the tower to find Aelita working away at a Holo keyboard, she turned when she heard them coming "you two wont believe what I found" she said as the two approached her. Odd and Yumi never did find out what Aelita was going to say instead she let out a small cry of fear and pointed to behind Odd and Yumi, the tower had two guardians the first was the Knight and the second shoved his huge buster sword threw Yumi's back, Yumi had enough time before devirtualizing to see her attacker, William. **

**Ulrich still couldn't believe it he had triangulated, just like he did on Lyoko and to top it off he was super sprinting, he had to be going at least 40 MPH. He had carried the girl who saved him (Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita still haven't heard that Rose's name is Rose) to a near by junk heap. "Hide here" he said, Ulrich turned to face the Ghost who was still distracted by the two copies Ulrich's, Ulrich noticed something in the pile of junk, it wasn't traditionally what he worked with but it would do the job. The ghost in frustration took blind swings at the copies hitting nothing as they went at top speed; suddenly as if all the Ulrich's came to the same decision the two copies stood side by side making funny faces at the ghost. The Ghost didn't hesitate for a second it came down upon the two and chopped then in two the copies fizzled away into binary code. The ghost head was close to the ground, that's exactly what the last Ulrich needed, the reason he sacrificed his copies. In a bolt of high speed the ghost never saw Ulrich but the thing knew that a rusted lead pipe had been stabbed through its head. The ghost let out a painful roar it flailed about violently for what it was worth until it broke down melting away into nothing. Ulrich gave what could be an "Odd" smile he turned to where Rose was hiding "ok lets go" Ulrich said Rose came out of her hiding spot, Ulrich took one step forward before an unbelievable exhaustion hit him, he stumbled a little before falling to the ground, "what is this?" he managed to say before passing out completely. "To use the powers, takes much energy" Rose said as if this thing was a common occurrence. **

**Jeremy heard the elevator door open, he turned to see a passed out Ulrich being dragged by Rose "he's very heavy" Rose said. "What Happened!?" Jeremy asked shocked to see his friend this way, Jeremy ran over to Ulrich and checked his pulse "an upgrade" Rose said. Jeremy's eyes nearly popped out at hearing this news, the last time Rose said "upgrade" Odd had his future sight, could use it in the real world, he gained new powers in Lyoko, but most of all Rose kissed him to give Odd these powers. Did this mean Rose kissed Ulrich? Did he just openly let her? And how many ways was Yumi going to break the two of them out of jealousy? All these questions ran through Jeremy's head, but what mattered most was that he get back to keeping an eye on the remaining warriors on Lyoko, he knew what was happening and it was beyond vital that Aelita finished what she started on the mainframe of the internet tower. The elevator moved again and Yumi came up "William got me" she said as the doors opened "What happened!?!" Yumi said when she saw Ulrich's unconscious body "he's fine just exhausted" Jeremy said, but that didn't stop Yumi from running to him and checking his pulse, then placing his head in her lap as he slept.**

**On Lyoko Odd faced off against William, in the past William had finished off all three Lyoko warriors fast and with little effort it wasn't going to be an easy fight. Aelita worked furiously at the keyboard "I need more time, can you hold him off?" Aelita asked odd. Odd Turned to William "just don't take your sweat time ok princess" Odd said. "Hello Billy, so how's the whole mindless zombie thing going for you?" Odd asked in a teasing manner, but his joke fell on def ears. William came charging at Odd thrusting his sword straight for Odd's gut, it was ultimately Odd's new increase in power that gave him the cat like reflexes he needed to side step the attack, Odd pointed his arm at William at point zero range "laser arrow". William took a shot straight between the eyes, effective but not fatal, he took a few steps back recoiling from the blast. William refocused let out a battle roar and charged Odd swing his sword in a X formation, Odd jumped performing an aerial flip, he was in the air and aimed for another shot, but William was fast he turned and charged his buster sword for an energy disk. The two took there shots at the same time, but Odd's laser arrow was nothing compared to the power packed in William's energy disk. The energy disk atomized the laser arrow and hit its target, Odd completely devirtualizing before he even hit the ground.**

**Aelita turned and saw Odd go, she was worried now, she was so close to finishing but nothing would stop William from attacking her now. William approached from behind; Aelita felt the ominous presences of XANA in William. William lifted his Buster sword above his head and brought it down, but Aelita was ready for him, at the last second he turned and fired an energy blast into his gut, William went flying back engulfed in the pink energy. Aelita turned back trying so hard to finish breaking the complicated code but stopped when she heard a moaning, she turned and found William raising to his feet "impossible my energy blast are a one shot kill" Aelita said astonished to see William still alive. How he survived was irrelevant because William used Aelita's shock against her, he charged at high speeds and got her, rammed his sword right threw her. Aelita fell to her knees, she felt herself start to devirtualize, she raised a hand it was getting harder to move, blackness started to engulf her, she would be in the real world soon. But strange enough a smile appeared on her face "I win" Aelita said and with her last energy she reached out and touched a final key on the holo keyboard before devirtualizing completely. William recognized what she had done a wave of anger came over William he let out such a huge roar of anger that the sound reverberated outside the tower.**

**"Ok so spill the beans Einstein, what did Aelita do that was so important?" Odd asked. The team was all back in the computer room, Ulrich had regained consciences and everyone had eyes on Jeremy and Aelita who looked quite pleased with themselves. "Go ahead and tell them Jeremy" Aelita said, "Ladies and gentlemen may I present you" Jeremy said and with that he pressed a key on his computer and a image appeared on the Holo display that they all thought they'd never see again "Lyoko" Jeremy finished. "But how I thought that William destroyed the core?" Ulrich asked "he did but what Aelita found in that tower was an emergency back up program containing Lyoko" Jeremy said. "Apparently Franz Hopper built this copy in case the first Lyoko was unexpectedly destroyed" Jeremy finished. "Ok, but what do we do with it?" Yumi asked "we can use the towers to capture XANA" Jeremy said the team looked at him astonished "well basically by running certain programs in the towers we can force XANA back to Lyoko and with Aelita no longer bound to it we can permanently turn off the super computer with XANA trapped inside" Jeremy finished. "This is great" Odd whooped jumping up in the air, "but there is a few problems" Jeremy said, and with that Odd fell to the floor sitting "I should have known there was a catch" he said. "Well first off the programs needed to control the towers are hidden in the internet no doubt somewhere on one of XANA's towers" Jeremy said "Next off with Lyoko back XANA will attempt to once again destroy the core and with William on his side I imagine that won't be as hard as before". The whole group looked bummed by this news, even Rose seemed down hearted at this news, "but there are a few good things" Jeremy said trying to cheer up the group "everyone for the first time we can take the fight to XANA, before in the past we have always played the defense doing are best to stop XANA attacks before they did any real harm. But now we have a chance to stop XANA forever, we have made a decisive first strike tonight and XANA knows it, this war could end all we have to do is get the code" Jeremy finished. The group didn't say anything but what Jeremy said had really brought up their spirits; it was Odd who broke the silence. "AHHH is that really the time" Odd yelled pointing at the clock on the computer screen, it was 4:50 am, "Oh no we have to get back to school now" Ulrich said horrified "if Jim catches us out of bead at this hour…." "You think you have it bad, I have to get home change in to my pajamas, pretend to be asleep before my mom comes in to wake me" Yumi said. "Quickly let's get out of here" Aelita said, "wait what about Rose?" Odd said, the group looked confused at Rose if she went back to the school they would take her to some orphanage as a runaway, but they couldn't just leave her in the factory "go I will be fine here" Rose said "I trust her" the whole group turned to Ulrich who said this "I believe that Rose isn't a threat, but in fact a friend" he finished. The group didn't argue with Ulrich they trusted his judgment "take care" Odd said red in the cheeks as they all climbed on to the elevator, "bye Odd" Rose said waving slowly at Odd as the elevator door closed. "You like her don't you?" Ulrich said to Odd as the elevator rose "SHUT UP" Odd said defensively red faced. The five kids all made it to the bridge leading out of the factory, the sun rising in the distance. They all started jogging to the man hole that would lead them back to school, everyone short of Ulrich. He stood on the bridge he looked back at the factory then he looked off into the sun rising up "what is it?" Ulrich turned to see Yumi "nothing I was just thinking" Ulrich said to her, she smiled and chuckled a little "camm'on lets go" Yumi said she took Ulrich's hand and pulled him forward, he stumbled a little but caught up they ran together hands still together until they made it to the rest of the group who was waiting at the entrance of the man hole.**


	2. Chapter 2

She only spoke one word "XANA"

It was morning at Kadic Junior High School and the five of Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita where having breakfast Odd of course wolfing down twos worth of food. "You have the stomach of a Billy goat" Ulrich said glancing at Odd from the side, Ulrich had learned a long time ago not to look directly at Odd while he ate or you would lose your appetite, Jeremy in a frustrated motion slammed the lid to his computer down, "what's wrong?" Aelita asked looking worrying at Jeremy "its been two months and XANA hasn't made himself known in any way, not an attack, not anything" Jeremy said rubbing his temples in frustration. "Well we don't know how the destruction of Lyoko affected XANA, he could have crippled himself and not even know it" Yumi said trying to encourage Jeremy "I doubt it" Jeremy replied.

It had been two months since the final showdown on Lyoko and much had changed. Lyoko was destroyed, but Franz Hopper who was supposed to have died suddenly sent the group instructions on how to enter the internet and fight XANA there. Jeremy had successfully logged the team onto the internet but calculating the sheer size of the internet there was no real way to find XANA unless he made the first move (which he hadn't). Jeremy found that William had not in fact died when XANA used him to destroy Lyoko, but there was no way to get him out or release him from XANA's control. The police came after awhile to investigate Williams disappearance but the kids where never suspected since they hadn't been really hanging out with him so no one looked too closely. But the biggest change of all was in the Kids themselves, they where looking more and more less like kids.

Grow was the best way to describe what happened Ulrich had shot up like a weed gaining three inches over Yumi who used to be the tallest in the group, and along with that his face showed more maturity and slightly longer hair. Odd was still stick skinny but had grown none the less shorter than Ulrich but taller than Jeremy, Odd had given up on trying to cut his hair it was growing too fast and he couldn't afford to have it cut that often, his hair now resides in a wild pony tail with streaks of purple running randomly through the blonde mess. Jeremy hadn't changed much, he had grown a lot too but he kept his hair the same, cloths the same, everything was "just Jeremy", he did however invest in a pair of half moon glasses giving him somewhat of a cool bad boy edge. The Girls had show the growth the most, the clumsiness of childhood had washed away both had grown curvy, slim, and well chesty to but it subtle or "smoking' hot" as Odd had so gracefully put it when it became noticeable.

But at that moment the pressures of teen hood where the last thing on any of there minds. Jeremy may have acted out but they all felt the same, XANA who was capable of any horrid atrocities had been too quiet since the destruction of Lyoko they all knew he would make a move soon, but when? And would they be as effective fighting XANA on the internet as they had been on Lyoko? SLURP, BURRRRP, Odd finished his third breakfast and wiped his mouth "I don't see why you guys are so worried, to go this long without the world in danger, or have to skip out of class to risk our necks to save a world that well nobody knows we're saving, me I'd call this a vacation" Odd said looking to help cheer up Jeremy instead he got four concerned looks from his friends. They all worried about Odd he had a falling out with Samantha Knight the only girl that dated Odd more than once before they got a taste of his "interesting" personality. "Will you all stop that, its getting on my nerves" Odd said angrily after seeing the group look a hundred times before. "Sorry" Ulrich mumbled "lets get going class is going to start" Ulrich said. They all spent the morning in class and met at the library before lunch to talk more about XANA, everyone but Odd that is. Odd snuck out to the Kadic Forest to play a little with Kiwi, "they act like I've never been dumped before" Odd said to himself throwing a stick for Kiwi. Suddenly Odd herd Kiwi's bark off behind some trees "Oh no I hope he's not hurt" Odd said, Odd ran to his dogs bark but stood frozen staring at what Kiwi was baking at, a pod like the ones off attack of the body snatchers.

"Whoa" Odd exclaimed looking over the pod, it was made of metal and has a clear glass window on one side Odd looked and tried to make out what was in side but suddenly the door popped open, white mist came rolling out. Odd jumped back frozen in his spot "what is this, what's going on?" these thoughts raced through Odds head, but the question reviled itself as the mist cleared. There standing before Odd was a girl no older than he naked with long cables plugged into her arms, back and hips, her hair was long and blonde her eyes closed, but the strangest thing was the tattoos that riddled themselves across her body. The Tattoos where like some odd form of Indian hieroglyphics black and streamed down her body a total of five of these sets of tattoos ran across her body a line of tattoos down each arm, leg, and a line down her back. Still frozen to that spot Odd tried to think but all that went through his head was how beautiful this girl was. She suddenly opened her eyes and locked gazes with Odd and he remembered that this could all be some sort of trap. Ready to run or attack Odd took a fighting stance trying to look fierce, "XANA" the girl spoke and with that the cables in her popped out leaving no marks and she passed out.

"So she said 'XANA' and passed out, never said anything else?" Jeremy asked Odd. It had been a long day after Odd came running out of the forest exclaiming that he found a naked unconscious girl. After Jim finally came to check it out things became complicated the girl was now in the nurses office sleeping, the cops came to question Odd the principal had made Odd tell the story over at least five times (Odd telling him everything except the XANA part). And now that things had finally slightly calmed down the group was in Jeremy's room listening to the story. "The word fishy would be an understatement for this" Yumi said looking over at Jeremy "I agree besides us and Franz Hopper no one should know about Lyoko or anything related" Jeremy said, Aelita gave a nod in agreement "What do you think of all this Ulrich you've been pretty quiet" Odd asked looking over at Ulrich who was resting his hands against his chin thinking about all that had happened. Ulrich caught himself doing this more and more, thinking things through before acting perhaps he felt that his decision to let William join the group and ultimately destroy Lyoko was his fault so he took time now before making a decision. Ulrich looked up from his thinking to see the team waiting for him to speak "we'll talk to the girl, tonight before the cops come to take her to some orphanage" Ulrich said standing up "Odd and Jeremy you two will be the ones to talk to her Jeremy will know what to ask and Odd she may recognize you and stay calm, Aelita you're going to stay here and work the computer to kill the security cameras around this place so we can sneak around unnoticed, Yumi you and I will stay out side the nurses office as look outs for Jim and back up if this is a trap and Jeremy and Odd need our help" Ulrich said. Everyone nodded at this idea but Yumi saw one glitch "what will we say if Jim does come by?" "Oh well…" Ulrich said blushing slightly.

"You two what are you doing out so late?!" Jim yelled as he spotted two figures outside after hours. As expected Jim showed up and Yumi and Ulrich where able to warn Jeremy and Odd to hide as he passes, Jim came running up to find Ulrich and Yumi standing near the Nurses office both blushing a furious red Yumi looking down and slightly behind Ulrich "Uh well sir" Ulrich started, but Jim looked down and saw that the two where holding hands fingers interlaced. "Oh I see well you two hurry up and finish your date before it gets too late, and Ulrich make sure **Miss. Ishiyama gets home safely" Jim said walking away "Close is clear" Yumi whispered inside to Odd and Jeremy. Ulrich and Yumi looked down and noticed that their hands still inter twined Yumi slightly blushed and tried to pull away but Ulrich gently tightened his grip and look at Yumi "I…I want to talk to you" Ulrich said turning red.**

**Inside the Nurses office Jeremy and Odd made their way to the last bed in the row to find their mystery girl, but she was up at the window looking out side the light from the moon was the only light in the dark room, she stood in a hospital gown. She turned and faced them staring at them with what Odd made out to be blue eyes "Uh hello" Jeremy said "My name is Jeremy, and this is my friend Odd, Do you remember Odd?" Jeremy asked. The Girl stared blankly at the two "this isn't a good sign, most of XANA's ghost's attack us but never speak" Jeremy whispered to Odd "Just wait" Odd said staring at the girl he couldn't get over how pretty she was. "Warriors" She said, Both Jeremy and Odd looked at her "of Lyoko" she finished. "How do you know about XANA or Lyoko?" Jeremy asked suspiciously "I...I" the girl stammered "don't stress her" Odd whispered to Jeremy he then stepped forward "hi uh do you have a name?" Odd asked the girl the Girl looked at Odd then at Jeremy and finally back to Odd "Rose" she said. "Ok Rose that's a great name" Odd said, Rose took a few steps forward until her and Odd's noses nearly touched Rose still staring blankly at Odd, but Odd got nervous such a beautiful girl stood so close to him he could hear his heart beating. "Odd get away this is dangerous" Jeremy warned his friend but whatever Jeremy expected to happen it didn't happen instead she kissed him. Rose Moved in used her nose to tilt Odd's head slightly upward and she kissed him. **

**That's when it got weird one of the series of Tattoos started to glow on her and Odd started to glow "ODD NO!" Jeremy yelled he lunged forward but an invisible force field blocked him from grabbing Odd away. "CODE RED CODE RED" Jeremy yelled into his cell phone, Yumi and Ulrich came running into the room receiving the emergency call and looked in shock at the bazaar sight of a glowing Odd kissing a Tattooed glowing girl. "Camm'on" Ulrich yelled "we have to get him out of there!" but at that moment the glowing stopped and Odd stepped away from Rose his friend catching him as he fell to the grown. "What did you do to him?!" Ulrich said angrily to Rose putting himself in a fighting stance "its O.K." Ulrich turned to see his friend getting to his feet, "what happened?" Ulrich asked but at that moment his cell phone range, it was Aelita. "Aelita this is a bad time" Ulrich said as he answered his phone "but Ulrich you have to hear this" Aelita said on the other end "the computer in Jeremy's room suddenly brought up Odd's Lyoko program and you wont believe this but his future sight, the program that we thought was gone for good is back, Ulrich Odd can once again see things before they happen". Ulrich turned and eyed Odd he looked perfectly normal and the girl looked the same, "thanks Aelita" Ulrich said putting away his cell phone, he was going to say something but never got the chance "you guys" Odd said "its Jim he's coming this way". Ulrich looked closely at Odd again and noticed, it was his eyes they turned from human to cat and it was obvious he could use his foresight powers outside of Lyoko as well. **

**The group plus Rose where now running though the grounds of Kadic trying to avoid getting caught by Jim. "Stop" Odd said "hide here" the five stopped and pressed themselves to a wall just as Jim came around another corner, had they continued running they would have been spotted "where did they go?" Jim said to himself scratching his head and walking off "the Factory" Rose said they all turned to Rose "you need to go fight XANA" she finished. Ulrich looked at his three friends with doubt in his eyes, this girl had done nothing to rest their suspicion and now she wanted to go the one place where she could really do some damage if she was in fact a puppet of XANA "its ok" Odd said "we can trust her" Ulrich still didn't trust the girl but he trusted Odd so he gave a nod and Jeremy dialed his Cell phone to contact Aelita and instruct her to get to the factory.****Ten minutes latter they where standing inside the room of the super computer "Ok we're here now what?" Jeremy said looking at Rose, Rose walked with no sound but quickly to the computer and typed in a command. "Hey wait!" Jeremy said horrified that she might break it but suddenly the sphere map of the internet that Jeremy had worked weeks to create suddenly appeared on the Holo pedestal she walked over to it and pointed to a spot. "Here, he hides here" Rose said, Jeremy sat in his chair and examined the coordinates on the super computers screen it was one of many remote spots on the internet that XANA could be hiding. "Well are we going?" Odd asked his eyes long since went back to normal "well it wouldn't hurt to go check it out its not like we have anything to lose" Jeremy said "what do you think Ulrich? Ulrich" Jeremy looked around but saw that both Ulrich and Yumi where gone "I think I saw them go down to the scanner room" Aelita said, "What could they possibly be talking about down there?" Jeremy asked, Aelita blushed he was still so clueless.**

**Down in the Scanner room Ulrich and Yumi stood holding hands staring at one another the conversation they had earlier still fresh in Yumi's mind. (Flashback) "Yumi, about three months ago you told me that you wanted us to stop beating around the bush with our feelings and just be friends" Ulrich said "that's right I don't want to keep on…" Yumi started but Ulrich cut her off "I want us to clear the air too I want you to know Yumi" Ulrich said staring into Yumi's eyes, she knew how hard it was for him to express his feelings "I've come too close to losing you so many times" Ulrich said, they both thought about how many times XANA's attacks had nearly ended one or the others life "and after what happed to William" Ulrich continued, Yumi looked down she too felt responsible for what happened. "The point is I never want to lose you, I fight this war against XANA for a selfish reason when we fight it's not the world's safety that I think about, it's yours Yumi" Ulrich said, and in her heart Yumi was thinking the same thing. "I want every moment with you to be special because we never know what will happen" Yumi looked up "Don't talk like that you sound as if one of us may…" Yumi started but Ulrich did the thing that he couldn't do for the past three years that he always wanted to do, he kissed her. "I love you Yumi and I want you to know it, I don't want something to happen and you never know how much you mean to me" Ulrich said. Yumi wrapped her arms around Ulrich and looked up into his eyes "I fight for the same reasons, I love you Ulrich, please don't disappear" she then kissed Ulrich and they held one another and held the kiss until Jeremy sounded the code red and they moved to help their friends.**

**Back in the present Jeremy activated the speaker system "Ulrich, Yumi your going in the internet to check out a possible XANA strong hold" Jeremy's voice said over the intercom "Ok" Ulrich said "Odd, Aelita, and Yumi can I'll stay here to keep an eye on….things" Ulrich said, Yumi knew Ulrich meant that he was going to watch the new girl and make sure she didn't attack Jeremy while they where off in the internet, but she still worried about him. Yumi took Ulrich in close and gave him a kiss "Be safe" she said "hey you stole my line" Ulrich replied. Odd, Aelita, and Yumi all got into the scanners while Ulrich watched Rose who didn't take her eyes off the holo map of the virtual world, Jeremy worked the keyboard of his computer like silk "scanner Odd, Aelita, Yumi, Virtualization" Jeremy said. **

**This virtualization was different they went to the internet this time the layout was a lot like Lyoko, a plane suspended over a virtual ocean this plane was a forest the only thing like Lyoko the three virtualized perfectly Aelita and Yumi virtualized and looked the same as they did in Lyoko but Odd came down different. Aelita and Yumi's jaw dropped when they saw him "Odd you ...your" Aelita stammered "what is it?" Jeremy asked "its Odd" Yumi said "he's". Odd wasn't a big handed cat kid, he had become more slip stream, his arms had become the same size and more muscular they where no longer skinny with huge paws at the end, his cloths in general looked more like armor than cloth the few features that remained where his tail the ever present color of purple and now he sported a pair of small cat ears on either side of the top of his head. "What is this?" Jeremy said astonished looking at Odds now changed Lyoko profile, "an upgrade" both Jeremy and Ulrich turned and looked over at Rose she didn't speak much but when she did it was concise and to the point, some how that kiss of hers gave Odd unbelievable powers. Back on the internet the three awaited orders, Jeremy's voice came to life in their heads "ok I'm materializing your vehicles you need to head for coordinates 3,0,8 bearing north" Jeremy told them as their Vehicles appeared they all hoped on Odd on his hover board, Yumi and Aelita both on a single Pod cruiser. As they came closer to the coordinates that Jeremy gave them his voice came to life again "be careful we have no idea what kind of powers XANA has on this plane of reality", but as he spoke those words XANA far away sensed the three intruders approaching him and he was not pleased with an angry roar he awoke his minions and set in motion a retaliation. **

**In the super computer room they all heard it the pulsation of a beating heart "it's him" Rose said, this was the first time Ulrich saw her scared. The pulsation grew stronger until…it came dripping down one of the air vents black and translucent once it was all there it floated up to its full height at least 8 to 9 feet tall and gave a bloody roar, XANA's possession ghost. It shot first at Jeremy trying to take control of his mind, no go Jeremy had long since grown immune, and the ghost knew Ulrich could easily defy his control so it set its sights on Rose "NO, RUN" he yelled at Rose but it was too late the ghost shot like a bullet at her, but at that moment another line of tattooed hieroglyphics came to life on Rose's body and when the ghost tried to enter her and possess her it came rushing out of her body roaring in pain. "Jeremy took this moment of confusion to contact his friends on Lyoko "report are you ok" he yelled into the microphone "Jeremy you wont believe this" Aelita said.**

**In the internet the three came speeding up to a clearing and in the center was a tower much like the ones back on Lyoko but this one had to be at least three times the size of a Lyoko tower, what's more it was guarded by XANA's ghost's they all circled the huge tower. "It looks like XANAs been a busy little virus since he left Lyoko" Yumi said, "here they come" Odd said pointing to the Ghost and sure enough it was like a black tidal wave coming right for them. "Split up I'll take care of these you two check out that tower" Odd said "are you sure?" Yumi asked him "trust me" Odd said with a devilish smile he winked at the two girls "on three" Odd said calculating the distance of the Ghost's" "one, two….THREE". the three split up at that moment and the wave of ghost's came smashing down on the spot that they had once been, Odd turned and laid down a stream of fire at the ghost "Laser arrows". Odd got the ghost's attention and they started chasing him as the two girls made their way to the tower. Odd was fast on his hover board but the Ghost had incredible speed and they where gaining on him, Odd took and sharp turn and then another trying to out maneuver them but it was no good, he turned to lay down another round of fire but suddenly a thought that never should have entered his head came up. "Hmm secondary weapon?" Odd said "well its worth a shot" he pointed his arm at the ghost mass almost upon him "SECONDARY WEAPON FIRE!!" Odd yelled, a bright red laser arrow came out and when it made contact with the ghost mass BOOM it exploded taking out a huge chunk of the ghost wave. Odd got another devilish smile on his face "I hope you guys like fireworks because here they come" he said "boom arrows fire!" Odd made quick work of what was left of the ghost and landed on the grown smoothly "well I better catch up with Yumi and Aelita" Odd said to himself, but before he could he hear a strange growl he turned to see two tarantulas monsters coming his way "please these guys will be easy I'll only need normal laser arrows to take them". Odd took aim and fired but nothing came out, he suddenly realized a serious problem the boom arrows may be powerful but the use of a few could use up all of his ammo! The tarantulas started firing at him and Odd took a shot to the shoulder and leg before he jumped back on his Hover board and took off "Jeremy I need you to reload my arrows" Odd said, no response "Jeremy are you there?"**

**In the real world Ulrich, Jeremy, and Rose where on the run the Ghost that XANA had sent was doing its best to kill them. The three made it up to the factory floor and where doing their best not to get killed as the XANA ghost took swings at them with a razor sharp claw. At the moment the three hid behind a conveyor belt as the ghost looked for them "I need to get back to the computer" Jeremy whispered to Ulrich "I'll distract it and you get back" Ulrich said. Rose herd this plan and went into action without the two boys even noticing, Ulrich and Jeremy looked up in shock as they saw Rose beating a pipe adgenst a box machine causing a lot of noise, this got the ghost attention and it started after Rose "go and help the others I'll take care of this" Ulrich said Jeremy sprinted to the elevator while Ulrich ran to Rose. **

**The Ghost swung its claw down at Rose and almost cut her into, but in the nick of time Ulrich tackled her pushing the both of them out of the way of the attack. The Ghost took no time to pause his attack and took another swing at Ulrich as the two ran this time making contact with Ulrich's side. Ulrich landed hurt and blood leaking from his cut, the ghost came down upon the two, it raised an sharp hand ready it cut the two to ribbons "this is it" Ulrich thought "I'm so sorry Yumi, I wont be able to keep my promise" Ulrich thought he could see her and wished he could have said good bye. But something happened that he didn't expect Rose was there with him and she kissed Ulrich, Ulrich's eyes bulged "WHAT IS SHE DOING?!?!" he though he tried to pull away but a green light engulfed him, another set of tattoos glowed on Rose's body, and the ghost let out a roar and swung down at the two. At the moment Ulrich looked up the light disappeared "TRIANGULATE" Ulrich moved at lightning speed and the ghost hit nothing but air it looked about confused as he saw three images of Ulrich running away carrying Rose in his arms.**

**On Lyoko Aelita and Yumi made it to the giant tower "Here goes nothing" Aelita said as the two stepped forward and into the tower. Inside was nothing like a Lyoko tower huge cables ran up and down blue binary coded walls, the inside was spacious, there was no drop off like the Lyoko towers and it didn't look like Aelita could just float to the top, there was a flight of stairs that ran upward encircling the tower but what caught Yumi and Aelita's attention the most was the suit of armor that sat in the middle of the tower. It was shaped like Knights of the Round Table armor, but there was a darkness about it the helmet had horns and there where spikes coated along the shoulders, back, legs, and back of the hands. Suddenly the eyes sparked to life and grew red, the symbol of XANA appeared on its chest and the thing came to life it stood up and unsheathed a huge double edged sword. "Go for the stairs Aelita" Yumi said "I'll take care of the tin man" she finished pulling out her two fans. Aelita didn't argue but ran towards the stairs. The knight saw this and charged at Aelita raised its sword but a spinning fan hit its head causing it to swing astray and missed Aelita. The Knight turned its attention to the thrower of the fan and as Yumi, "that's right come to me" Yumi said hoping that the knight would forget about Aelita, and it did. Letting out a war cry the Knight charger towards Yumi swinging its sword fiercely, but Yumi was agile and could flip and doge her way away from the sword. Yumi clicked her fans together and threw them but the knight threw up its sword and protected itself, the fans came back to their owner "this isn't going to be easy" Yumi thought.**

**Jeremy made it back to his seat and put on his microphone ear piece in time to hear Odd yell once again for his help, Jeremy almost pulled the piece from his head after hearing such a loud noise "Calm down Odd what the problem" Jeremy said. "My problem is that I need a reload of arrows and quickly" Odd said, he was flying as fast as he could avoiding the laser bolts the tarantulas shot at him "ok Odd give me a minute, and by the way in readings show that you have 70 life points" Jeremy said. Odd was shocked to hear this usually in the past after getting hit as many times as he had he would normally be down to 10 life points, was it the new armor? "Got it, I just gave you a fresh load of arrows" Jeremy said "it's about time Einstein" Odd said he turned to his targets "laser arrows". Inside the tower Yumi was doing her best but the Knight was both fast and strong, she knew one hit of the sword would kill her but whenever she tried to hit the XANA target on his chest the thing would shield itself. The knight swung its sword down and hit the ground close to Yumi right as she was flipping, the shock waves threw her off balance and she fell "oh no" she said the knight raised its sword but let out a roar of pain, Yumi heard what sounded like two bombs go off behind the knight she looked and saw Odd standing there. "Now finish it" Odd yelled, Yumi moved and in a flash the knight dropped its sword and two deep cuts where over the XANA mark, the thing literally went to pieces before breaking down into binary code. **

"**Thanks" Yumi said to Odd, "but what was that explosion?" "Well I'll have to show you, Aelita and Ulrich what new amazing powers I now have" Odd said smiling big "I see one of those powers is a big head" Yumi said giving a Odd a virtual rug burn, "lets go we need to catch up with Aelita" Yumi said. The two reached the top of the tower to find Aelita working away at a Holo keyboard, she turned when she heard them coming "you two wont believe what I found" she said as the two approached her. Odd and Yumi never did find out what Aelita was going to say instead she let out a small cry of fear and pointed to behind Odd and Yumi, the tower had two guardians the first was the Knight and the second shoved his huge buster sword threw Yumi's back, Yumi had enough time before devirtualizing to see her attacker, William. **

**Ulrich still couldn't believe it he had triangulated, just like he did on Lyoko and to top it off he was super sprinting, he had to be going at least 40 MPH. He had carried the girl who saved him (Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita still haven't heard that Rose's name is Rose) to a near by junk heap. "Hide here" he said, Ulrich turned to face the Ghost who was still distracted by the two copies Ulrich's, Ulrich noticed something in the pile of junk, it wasn't traditionally what he worked with but it would do the job. The ghost in frustration took blind swings at the copies hitting nothing as they went at top speed; suddenly as if all the Ulrich's came to the same decision the two copies stood side by side making funny faces at the ghost. The Ghost didn't hesitate for a second it came down upon the two and chopped then in two the copies fizzled away into binary code. The ghost head was close to the ground, that's exactly what the last Ulrich needed, the reason he sacrificed his copies. In a bolt of high speed the ghost never saw Ulrich but the thing knew that a rusted lead pipe had been stabbed through its head. The ghost let out a painful roar it flailed about violently for what it was worth until it broke down melting away into nothing. Ulrich gave what could be an "Odd" smile he turned to where Rose was hiding "ok lets go" Ulrich said Rose came out of her hiding spot, Ulrich took one step forward before an unbelievable exhaustion hit him, he stumbled a little before falling to the ground, "what is this?" he managed to say before passing out completely. "To use the powers, takes much energy" Rose said as if this thing was a common occurrence. **

**Jeremy heard the elevator door open, he turned to see a passed out Ulrich being dragged by Rose "he's very heavy" Rose said. "What Happened!?" Jeremy asked shocked to see his friend this way, Jeremy ran over to Ulrich and checked his pulse "an upgrade" Rose said. Jeremy's eyes nearly popped out at hearing this news, the last time Rose said "upgrade" Odd had his future sight, could use it in the real world, he gained new powers in Lyoko, but most of all Rose kissed him to give Odd these powers. Did this mean Rose kissed Ulrich? Did he just openly let her? And how many ways was Yumi going to break the two of them out of jealousy? All these questions ran through Jeremy's head, but what mattered most was that he get back to keeping an eye on the remaining warriors on Lyoko, he knew what was happening and it was beyond vital that Aelita finished what she started on the mainframe of the internet tower. The elevator moved again and Yumi came up "William got me" she said as the doors opened "What happened!?!" Yumi said when she saw Ulrich's unconscious body "he's fine just exhausted" Jeremy said, but that didn't stop Yumi from running to him and checking his pulse, then placing his head in her lap as he slept.**

**On Lyoko Odd faced off against William, in the past William had finished off all three Lyoko warriors fast and with little effort it wasn't going to be an easy fight. Aelita worked furiously at the keyboard "I need more time, can you hold him off?" Aelita asked odd. Odd Turned to William "just don't take your sweat time ok princess" Odd said. "Hello Billy, so how's the whole mindless zombie thing going for you?" Odd asked in a teasing manner, but his joke fell on def ears. William came charging at Odd thrusting his sword straight for Odd's gut, it was ultimately Odd's new increase in power that gave him the cat like reflexes he needed to side step the attack, Odd pointed his arm at William at point zero range "laser arrow". William took a shot straight between the eyes, effective but not fatal, he took a few steps back recoiling from the blast. William refocused let out a battle roar and charged Odd swing his sword in a X formation, Odd jumped performing an aerial flip, he was in the air and aimed for another shot, but William was fast he turned and charged his buster sword for an energy disk. The two took there shots at the same time, but Odd's laser arrow was nothing compared to the power packed in William's energy disk. The energy disk atomized the laser arrow and hit its target, Odd completely devirtualizing before he even hit the ground.**

**Aelita turned and saw Odd go, she was worried now, she was so close to finishing but nothing would stop William from attacking her now. William approached from behind; Aelita felt the ominous presences of XANA in William. William lifted his Buster sword above his head and brought it down, but Aelita was ready for him, at the last second he turned and fired an energy blast into his gut, William went flying back engulfed in the pink energy. Aelita turned back trying so hard to finish breaking the complicated code but stopped when she heard a moaning, she turned and found William raising to his feet "impossible my energy blast are a one shot kill" Aelita said astonished to see William still alive. How he survived was irrelevant because William used Aelita's shock against her, he charged at high speeds and got her, rammed his sword right threw her. Aelita fell to her knees, she felt herself start to devirtualize, she raised a hand it was getting harder to move, blackness started to engulf her, she would be in the real world soon. But strange enough a smile appeared on her face "I win" Aelita said and with her last energy she reached out and touched a final key on the holo keyboard before devirtualizing completely. William recognized what she had done a wave of anger came over William he let out such a huge roar of anger that the sound reverberated outside the tower.**

**"Ok so spill the beans Einstein, what did Aelita do that was so important?" Odd asked. The team was all back in the computer room, Ulrich had regained consciences and everyone had eyes on Jeremy and Aelita who looked quite pleased with themselves. "Go ahead and tell them Jeremy" Aelita said, "Ladies and gentlemen may I present you" Jeremy said and with that he pressed a key on his computer and a image appeared on the Holo display that they all thought they'd never see again "Lyoko" Jeremy finished. "But how I thought that William destroyed the core?" Ulrich asked "he did but what Aelita found in that tower was an emergency back up program containing Lyoko" Jeremy said. "Apparently Franz Hopper built this copy in case the first Lyoko was unexpectedly destroyed" Jeremy finished. "Ok, but what do we do with it?" Yumi asked "we can use the towers to capture XANA" Jeremy said the team looked at him astonished "well basically by running certain programs in the towers we can force XANA back to Lyoko and with Aelita no longer bound to it we can permanently turn off the super computer with XANA trapped inside" Jeremy finished. "This is great" Odd whooped jumping up in the air, "but there is a few problems" Jeremy said, and with that Odd fell to the floor sitting "I should have known there was a catch" he said. "Well first off the programs needed to control the towers are hidden in the internet no doubt somewhere on one of XANA's towers" Jeremy said "Next off with Lyoko back XANA will attempt to once again destroy the core and with William on his side I imagine that won't be as hard as before". The whole group looked bummed by this news, even Rose seemed down hearted at this news, "but there are a few good things" Jeremy said trying to cheer up the group "everyone for the first time we can take the fight to XANA, before in the past we have always played the defense doing are best to stop XANA attacks before they did any real harm. But now we have a chance to stop XANA forever, we have made a decisive first strike tonight and XANA knows it, this war could end all we have to do is get the code" Jeremy finished. The group didn't say anything but what Jeremy said had really brought up their spirits; it was Odd who broke the silence. "AHHH is that really the time" Odd yelled pointing at the clock on the computer screen, it was 4:50 am, "Oh no we have to get back to school now" Ulrich said horrified "if Jim catches us out of bead at this hour…." "You think you have it bad, I have to get home change in to my pajamas, pretend to be asleep before my mom comes in to wake me" Yumi said. "Quickly let's get out of here" Aelita said, "wait what about Rose?" Odd said, the group looked confused at Rose if she went back to the school they would take her to some orphanage as a runaway, but they couldn't just leave her in the factory "go I will be fine here" Rose said "I trust her" the whole group turned to Ulrich who said this "I believe that Rose isn't a threat, but in fact a friend" he finished. The group didn't argue with Ulrich they trusted his judgment "take care" Odd said red in the cheeks as they all climbed on to the elevator, "bye Odd" Rose said waving slowly at Odd as the elevator door closed. "You like her don't you?" Ulrich said to Odd as the elevator rose "SHUT UP" Odd said defensively red faced. The five kids all made it to the bridge leading out of the factory, the sun rising in the distance. They all started jogging to the man hole that would lead them back to school, everyone short of Ulrich. He stood on the bridge he looked back at the factory then he looked off into the sun rising up "what is it?" Ulrich turned to see Yumi "nothing I was just thinking" Ulrich said to her, she smiled and chuckled a little "camm'on lets go" Yumi said she took Ulrich's hand and pulled him forward, he stumbled a little but caught up they ran together hands still together until they made it to the rest of the group who was waiting at the entrance of the man hole.**


End file.
